A Moment
by repmetsyrrah
Summary: E/A 3x03 AU. Sir Anthony has a moment of doubt at the altar. Luckily his best man is there to help him see things properly. Written for the EAST Alliance day on Tumblr.


My second fic for the EAST Alliance Day! I figure with timezones it's still the 4th for some so we really get two days so why not two fics?

Thanks to babageneush for the beta.

**A Moment**

* * *

"I can't do this."

As soon as Sir Anthony spoke Tom _knew_.

He knew that look, he knew what it was to _wear_ that look.

It was the look a man wore when he knew he'd never, _never_ be worthy of the woman who had chosen to spend the rest of her life with him. The look of a man who knew, without a doubt, her family didn't want him there.

There was another look too. Uncertainty.

Combined they were they look of a man about to make a terrible mistake.

"_If we're mad enough to take on the Crawley girls, we have to stick together."_

Tom didn't have the same easy friendship with Sir Anthony that he had developed with Matthew but the man was decent and caring and Tom wouldn't ever forget his hand in the Larry Grey incident.

He wasn't about to let this man ruin his own happiness because of some disapproving toffs. And damned if he was going to let him hurt his sister in the process.

Sir Anthony turned to his bride but his best man was quicker.

"Excuse us," Tom said loudly, drowning out whatever the other man tried to say as he slipped between him and Edith.

"What?"

"One moment."

"Tom-"

"We'll just be a moment," Tom said loudly, ignoring the Earl to address the church at large. He took Sir Anthony firmly by his good arm and all but dragged the baffled groom into the small room behind the altar.

Sir Anthony started talking again as soon as the door shut, cutting off the rapidly increasing sound of confused conversation in the church. "I can't, I can't let her do this."

"_Let_ her?" Tom shook his head in disbelief.

"It's not up to you to let her do something she's decided to do," he told Sir Anthony. "She loves you, _she_ wants this, don't you _dare_ disregard her feelings or what she wants and claim to do it out of love for her."

"I'm old enough to be her father."

"Maybe," Tom agreed, "but don't think that'll stop me from doing to you what I did to Joe Harris when he kissed Mary Connors while he was still with my sister." He shook his head. "Bastard pissed blood for a month."

Tom meant for his words to be crass but he regretted them slightly when the older man looked a bit more taken aback than he'd expected.

He moved to his next argument quickly.

"Do you love her?"

"Of course."

"Then that's it," Tom told him simply. "You love her, she loves you. That's it, that's all you need to know. The rest is detail."

The older man still looked unsure.

"Look, Sir Anthony." Tom said, not willing to give up. "You said you wanted me as your best man because we'd both gotten to know Lady Edith through driving and that's a good a reason as any but I think we both know the real reason. You know I've been in your position. I've been the man they don't want for their daughter. I still am! But that doesn't matter. All that matters is that Sybil is happy. And you'll make Edith happy too. You already do."

"You really think so?"

Tom sighed, wondering if he'd injured his eyesight as well as his hand.

"I spent many years driving that family around. I got to see a_ lot_ and believe me when I tell you I have _never_ seen Edith as bright or as confident as she is when she's with you."

Sir Anthony looked down but Tom placed a hand on his arm, waiting until he looked back up to speak again.

"Now, go and make her happy."

Sir Anthony looked towards the door and nodded, before turning back quickly.

"Just one thing, Tom?"

"Yes?"

"If we are to be brothers you must call me Anthony."

"Anthony, then." Tom nodded, smiling at his very-soon-to-be brother-in-law before opening the door and leading the way back out.

"Nothing to worry about," the Irishman announced cheerfully as they re-entered the main church.

The guests quietened at the return of the groom but hushed whispers could still be heard flitting between them.

Edith looked confused but Sybil had left her seat and taken a position at her sister's side, and Tom knew she had been keeping her calm and comforting her as they waited for the men to return.

"Perhaps, if you're not sure-" The Dowager Countess rose from her seat but before she could add anything else, Anthony cut her off.

"But I am." He turned back to his bride. "I'm so sorry, my dear, will you forgive an old man a moment of foolishness?"

Sybil squeezed her sister's hands before stepping back as Edith looked up at her nervous groom.

"Only a moment?" she asked.

"Only a moment," Anthony assured her. He took her hands and kissed them gently, "I promise you."

Edith smiled. "I can forgive a moment of doubt," she assured him.

They did, after all, have the rest of their lives to be certain.


End file.
